The MexicoBlog of the CIP Americas Program monitors and analyzes international press on Mexico with a focus on the US-backed War on Drugs in Mexico and the struggle in Mexico to strengthen the rule of law, justice and protection of human rights. Relevant political developments in both countries are also covered.

Jan 9, 2012

El Universal: "The Mexican National Commission on Human Rights is releasing a preliminay report today on the attack on students of the Normal School of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, on December 12. It states that federal police arrived first and shot into the air to disperse the students. About 300 students then ran in all directions. State police arrived and for twenty-five minutes, both federal and state police fired at the students indiscriminately. Two students were killed. Twenty-four people were arrested, of whom only nine were students. The rest were passersby. Subsequently, one student was tortured and forced to shoot an AK-47 to create "evidence" that a student had started the shooting. The police also collected spent shells from the scene to hide evidence.

The report states that these grave violations of human rights is evidence that there was no coordination between police forces at the scene and that police were not trained nor did they respect international protocols on the use of force to contain demonstrations." Spanish original